Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.

Subject: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:29 PM

Hi all. My number 1 son is needing songs about deportation to Australia from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries for a play. Not the fields of Athen or Peckham Rye ! Any suggestions that you may have (including those which are rude and tell him where to go) are welcome. He will be logging on to see what info you can give him.

Thanks

Eric

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:30 PM

Van Diemen's Land
Wild Colonial Boy
Wild Bass Strait
Etc.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:31 PM

Thanks Giok, a good start already.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:38 PM

Botany Bay

Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: breezy
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:42 PM

he can buy a CD from Tony Truscott with Swallow's Wing on it, its a song that paints the picture.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: bfdk
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:48 PM

A pretty defiant one: Jim Jones.

Best wishes,

Bente

Subject: Lyr Add: JIM JONES (Bob Dylan)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 May 06 - 04:50 PM

Another vote here for Jim Jones. Here are the lyrics as I know them:

Bob Dylan - Jim Jones Lyrics

Come and listen for a moment, lads
And hear me tell my tale
How across the sea from England
I was condemned to sail
Now the jury found me guilty, lads
Then says the judge, says he
"Oh, for life, Jim Jones, I'm sending you
Across that stormy sea
So take a tip before you ship
To join the iron gang
Don't get too gay in Botany Bay
Or else you'll surely hang
Or else you'll surely hang", says he
"And after that Jim Jones
It's high above on the gallows tree
The crows will pick your bones".

Now our ship was sailing high upon the sea
When pirates came along
But the soldiers on that convict ship
They were full five hundred strong
And they opened fire and somehow drove
That pirate ship away
But I'd rather have joined that pirate ship
Than gone to Botany Bay
With the storms all ragin' round us
And the wind a blowin' gale
I'd rather have drowned in misery
Than gone to New South Wales
There's no time for mischief there they say
Remember that, says they
For they'll flog the poaching out of you
Down there in Botany Bay.

Now it's day and night the irons clang
And like poor galley slaves
We toil and toil, and when we die
Must fill dishonored graves
But it's by and by I'll slip my chains
Into the bush I'll go
And I'll join the brave bush rangers there
Jack Donohue and all
And some dark night, when everything
Is silent in the town
I'll shoot those tyrants one and all
I'll gun the floggers down
Oh, I'll give the lot a little shot
Remember what I say
And they'll yet regret they sent Jim Jones
In chains to Botany Bay.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Dug
Date: 24 May 06 - 05:11 PM

Ten Thousand Miles Away

Sing ho for a fair and gallant ship with a fair and favourin breeze
With a bully crew and a captain too to carry me o'er the seas
To carry me o'er the seas me boy to me true love far away
She's taken a trip on a government ship, ten thousand miles away.

You can find the rest of it in the database. If not let me know- I'll give you the rest.

Subject: Lyr Add: CONVICT MAID
From: Charmain
Date: 24 May 06 - 05:24 PM

To the Tune of The Croppy Boy

CONVICT MAID

Ye London maids attend to me
While I relate my misery
Through London streets I oft have strayed
But now I am a Convict Maid

In innocence I once did live
In all the joy that peace could give
But sin my youthful heart betrayed
And now I am a Convict Maid

To wed my lover I did try
To take my master's property
So all my guilt was soon displayed
And I became a Convict Maid

Then I was soon to prison sent
To wait in fear my punishment
When at the bar I stood dismayed
Since doomed to be a Convict Maid

At lenth the Judge did me address
Which filled with pain my aching breast
To Botany Bay you will be conveyed
For seven years a Convict Maid

For seven long years oh how I sighed
While my poor mother loudly cried
My lover wept and thus he said
May God be with my Convict Maid

To you that here my mournful tale
I cannot half my grief reveal
No sorrow yet has been portrayed
Like that of the poor Convict Maid

Far from my friends and home so dear
My punishment is most severe
My woe is great and I'm afraid
That I shall die a Convict Maid

I toil each day in greaf and pain
And sleepless through the night remain
My constant toils are unrepaid
And wretched is the Convict Maid

Oh could I but once more be free
I'd never again a captive be
But I would seek some honest trade
And never again be a Convict Maid

Subject: Lyr Add: THE EXILE'S LAMENT
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 May 06 - 05:55 PM

This is a beautiful song. THE EXILE'S LAMENT (also known as THE EXILE OF ERIN or THE PLAINS OF EMU)

O! Farewell my country, my kindred, my lover;
Each morning and evening are sacred to you,
While I toil the long day, without shelter or cover,
And fell the tall gums, the black-butted and blue.
Full often I think of and talk of thee, Erin -
Thy heath-covered mountains are fresh in my view,
Thy glens, lakes and rivers, Loch Con and Kilkerran,
While chained to the soil on the Plains of Emu.

The ironbark, wattle and gum-trees extending
Their shades, under which rests the shy kangaroo,
May be felled by the bless'd who have hope o'er them bending,
To cheer their rude toil, though far exiled from you.
But, alas! without hope, peace or honour to grace me,
Each feeling was crushed in the bud as it grew,
Whilst 'never' is stamped on the chains that embrace me,
And endless my thrall on the Plains of Emu.

Hard, hard was my fate, far from thee to be driven,
Unstained, unconvicted, as sure was my due;
I loved to dispense of the freedom of Heaven,
But force gained the day, and I suffer for you.
For this hand never broke what by promise was plighted,
Deep treason, this tongue to my country ne'er knew,
No base-earned coin in my coffer e'er lighted,
Yet enchained I remain on the Plains of Emu.

Dear mother, thy love from my bosom shall never
Depart, but shall flourish untainted and true;
Nor grieve that the base in their malice should ever
Upbraid thee, and none to give malice her due.
Spare, spare her tears, and no charge lay upon her,
And weep not, my Norah, her griefs to renew,
But cherish her age until night closes on her,
And think of the swain who still thinks but of you.

But your names shall still live, though like writing in water,
When confined to the notes of the tame cockatoo,
Each wattle-scrub echo repeats to the other
Your names, and each breeze hears me sighing anew.
For dumb be my tongue, may my heart cease her motion,
If the Isle I forget where my first breath I drew!
Each affection is warmed with sincerest emotion,
For the tie is unbroken on the Plains of Emu.

These words were published in the Sydney Gazette, 26 May 1829 and apparently attributed to "M" of Anambaba. The setting is Emu Plains, an agricultural establishment and convict settlement 57 kilometres west of Sydney. The apparent author would be an Irish political convict, perhaps a rebel of 1798, on lifetime sentence, felling the native timber to clear the land for farming.

The tune set by Ron Edwards is apparently of the same name and comes from an earlier Irish song on the same theme.

the tune can be found on this page of sample songs performed by Jason & Chloe Roweth.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: jamiebanjo
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:00 PM

Peter Bellamy's folk opera "The Transports" is all about transportation to Oz, based on a real case. The song "I once lived in service" tells pretty much the whole story. F

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Barry Finn
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:01 PM

Here's another vote for Jim Jones. What's Bob Dylan got to do with JJ, did he sing or record it? I originally got it off a Folk-Legacy LP "Ian Robb & Hang the Piper" (1979), always admired his version which he says in his notes came from David Parry who had it from John Kirkpatrick. The tune is a different one than the standard one done in Australia, according again to the notes.
Another nice one is "Far Away in Australia", though not about deportation.

Good luck
Barry

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:06 PM

and there's always the wonderful Anderson's Coast by John Warner..

Subject: Lyr Add: ALBION'S SHORE
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:12 PM

This is another powerful song..

ALBION'S SHORE. Mick Ryan and Graham Moore.

The distant shore of England fades from sight.
Now all seems dark that once was pure and bright,
And now a convict serves me for a time,
To suffer hardship in a foreign clime.

My faith and union's stronger than these chains,
In pastures green he leads me once again,
Through death's dark valley, safely and secure,
return once more to stand on Albion's shore.

How wretched is an exile's state of mind,
By grief worn down, in servile chains confined,
While not one gleam of hope on Earth remains,
And not one friend to soothe his heartfelt pains

My faith and union...

Too true I know that man was made to mourn,
With anguish full my aching heart is torn
The heavy portion falls unto my lot,
Far from my friends, by all the world forgot.

My faith and union...

Farewell my mother, aged father dear,
for you I shed a sympathetic tear,
I pray before our lives have ceased to run,
You'll be united with your long lost son.

My faith and union..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:21 PM

Moreton Bay
The Catalpa

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Snuffy
Date: 24 May 06 - 07:36 PM

Judy Small's Mary Parker's Lament

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 24 May 06 - 07:38 PM

I'd go with Mary Parker's Lament too. Great song. I must dig it out again.

Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 24 May 06 - 08:49 PM

G'day Eric the Viking,

Over the years, I have posted many of the songs listed above to the Mudcat ... but although they have sometimes been marked "^^" (harvested) most have not yet made it into the DT (Digital Tradition).

If you do BIG (3 Years ... or ALL) searches for the traditional titles you should find most of them ... with the "no longer supprted by Mudcat" MIDItext files generated from Alan of Oz's old tune-posting program.

If nothing else, this lets you harvest the (reasonably) correct words PLUS the ABC format versions of the tunes ... and there are sites (inc. concertina.com ... ?) that will give you an automatic conversion to music notation.

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: GUEST
Date: 24 May 06 - 10:12 PM

Freemantle Bay

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 May 06 - 10:21 PM

Barry, Bob Dylan sang "Jim Jones" quite a bit in live concerts (in the 80's mostly, I think) and there's a good bootleg with that song and numerous other trads performed live by Bob in concert. The bootleg is called "Golden Vanity", that being the name of one of the songs, as you probably know.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Eric the Viking
Date: 25 May 06 - 03:07 AM

That's really great. Thank you all. Matthew vikingson is really pleased and passes on his thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Little Robyn
Date: 25 May 06 - 04:01 AM

Re Jim Jones at Botany Bay, Frank Fyfe was singing it in Wellington, NZ back in the 60s. I don't know where he picked it up but he came from Aus in the mid 60s and had been at folk clubs there - in Queensland, I think.
Robyn

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FEMALE TRANSPORT
From: CeltArctic
Date: 25 May 06 - 07:44 AM

My votes go to Jim Jones and The Female Transport. Frankie Armstrong sings a great version of the latter:

Come all young girls both far and near and listen unto me
While unto you I do relate what proved my destiny
Me mother died when I was young which caused me to deplore
And made me find me way too soon all on me native shore.

Sarah Collins is me name and dreadful is me fate
Me father reared me tenderly the truth I do relate
'Til enticed by bad company along with many more
Which led to my discovery all on me native shore.

Me trial it approached fast and before the Judge I stood
And when that he the sentence passed it fairly chilled me blood
Crying "you must be transported for fourteen years or more
And make haste, without delay, unto Van Dieman's shore."

It hurt me heart when in the coach me native town passed by
To see so many I did know it fairly made me cry
Then to the ship I went with speed along with many more
Whose aching hearts did grieve to go all on Van Dieman's shore.

They chained two by two and whipped and lashed us all along
They cut off our provisions if we did the least thing wrong
They marched us in the burning sun until our feet were sore
So hard our lot not we have got all on Van Dieman's shore.

We labour hard from morn 'til night until our bones do ache
Then every one we must obey our mouldy beds to make
We often wish when we lie down that we might rise no more
To face our savage governors all on Van Dieman's shore.

So come young men and maidens, a warning take by me:
If tongue could tell our overthrow t'would make your hearts to bleed
You girls I pray be ruled by me your wicked ways give o'er
For fear you end your days like me all on Van Dieman's shore.

Moira Cameron

Subject: Lyr Add: THE POACHERS
From: bfdk
Date: 25 May 06 - 10:41 AM

Just remembered this one:

THE POACHERS Trad. Scots
Come all ye gallant sporting lads that ramble void of care
As ye rove out on a moonlit night with your dog, your gun, your snare
The harmless hare and pheasant you have at your command
Not thinking on your last career all on Van Dieman's Land

There was young Jack Brown from Glasgow town, Tom Williams and poor Joe
We were three gallant sporting boys the country well did know
One night we were trepanned by the keepers in the sand
And for fourteen years transported to Van Dieman's Land

The day on which we landed upon that fateful shore
The planters stood around us, full twenty score and more
They ranked us up like horses and sold us out of hand
They yoked us to the plough, me boys, to plough Van Dieman's land

The houses that we dwell in here are made of clod and clay
With rotten straw for bedding, we dare not say them nay
Our cots are fenced with wire and we slumber when we can
And we fight the wolves and tigers that infest Van Dieman's Land

There came a lass from sweet Dundee, Jean Stewart was her name
For fourteen years transported for the playing of the game
Our captain bought her freedom and married her off hand
And she gives us all good usage upon Van Dieman's Land

Although the poor of Scotland do labour and do toil
They're robbed of all the blessings, the produce of the soil
Your proud imperious landlord, if you break his command
He'll send you to the British hulks, or to Van Dieman's Land.

You can hear part of it here - the music samples open in a pop-up window.

Best wishes,

Bente

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: pavane
Date: 25 May 06 - 11:48 AM

Another vote for Peter Bellamy's 'The Transports', based on the very earliest true cases.

Well worth checking out, at least.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 May 06 - 11:53 AM

Some people from Wigan once recoreded an album about deportation. I used to have it and can see the cover in my minds eye but for the life of me can't remember the title! I think Laurence Hoy performed on it and possibly Bram Taylor. Realy good album with a booklet to go along with it but it went the way of all my other vinyls in an auction for Mudcat some years ago. It may have even gone to Yorkshire, Eric! Could be worth asking around.

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 25 May 06 - 02:02 PM

Don't think it's been mentioned yet:
Black Velvet Band
Always assuming that Tasmania counts as 'Oz'

CHEERS
Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Willa
Date: 25 May 06 - 04:32 PM

Try this site

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=RNWE%2CRNWE%3A2004-44%2CRNWE%3Aen&q=+songs+of+botany+bay

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Terry K
Date: 26 May 06 - 03:55 AM

Dave, the album you mention is called "Beyond the Seas", has Lawrence Hoy, Bram Taylor, Calico, Pennygate, and Bernard Wrigley. Very good.

Eric, if it would be useful to you, it is yours, as I have it on mini-disc (remember those?). I also have the Warren Fahey book "The Songs that made Australia" which has a section devoted to transportation songs, so if you need the words, dots and chords I can get them to you. Let me know.

cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: ard mhacha
Date: 26 May 06 - 05:26 AM

Freda Underhill thank you for posting The exile of Erin, a great song performed beautifully by the lady singer.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 29 May 06 - 10:50 PM

Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads lists 192 broadsides under the subject "transported convict" and 3 more under "transported convict – female."

(To find them, on the search page, under "Browse Index", select "3 Subjects" then type "transp" into the search box, and click "Show Index.")

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: cobber
Date: 30 May 06 - 02:30 AM

I'd agree that we've made a pretty good list, except I think we missed Maggie May (not the Rod Stewart one)Most of them are music hall songs and often were popular later than the convict era. A bit like the difference between Bing Crosby singing Galway Bay and the wolftones better songs. Of those listed, Jom Jones and Morton Bay stand out because they reflect the defiant attitude of the convicts who could only express it in song. JJ was, I think writtewn by Frank tehPoet around the mid 1830s. He also wrote a poem called The Convict's Tour of Hell which is equally fierce. He was past his convict days when he wrote but obviously remembered the feelings well. Morton Bay details the death of the hated and sadistic Captain Logan who ran Morton Bay gaol which was one of the worst places a convict could be sent. It's thought that his spearing by aborigines may have been related to his work as contact between the black and convict populations was occasionally cordial, a union of the opressed, so to speak.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Roberto
Date: 30 May 06 - 03:29 AM

4 recordings of Australia, two by Bob Hart and two by Cyril Poacher; 2 recordings of a Van Diemen's Land, by Harry Cox and by Ewan MacColl, and 2 recordings of another Van Diemen's Land, by Enoch Kent and by Cara Dillon.

Australia

a) Come All You Young Fellows (Australia)
Bob Hart, A Broadside, Musical Traditions MT CD 301 -2, 1969 recordings

Come all you young fellows
Whereso'er you may be
Come listen a while to my story
When I was a young man
Me age seventeen
I ought to been serving Victoria, our Queen
But those hard-hearted judges
Oh, how cruel they be
To send us poor lads to Australia

I fell in with a damsel
She was handsome and gay
I neglected me work
More and more, every day
And to keep her like a lady
I went on the highway
And for that I was sent to Australia

Now the judges, they stand
With their whips in their hands
They drive us, like horses
To plough up the land
You should see us poor young fellows
Working in that jail yard
How hard is our fate in Australia

Australia, Australia
I would ne'er see no more
I'm worn out with fever
Cast down to Death's door
But should I live to see
Say, seven years more
I would then bid adieu to Australia

That's where they used to send 'em, years ago

b) Australia
Bob Hart, on Hidden English, Topic TSCD600, from Songs from Suffolk, Topic LP 12TS225; song recorded in 1972

Come all you young fellows
Whereso'er you may be
Come listen a while to my story
When I was a young man
Me age seventeen
I ought to been serving Victoria, our Queen
But those hard-hearted judges
Oh, how cruel they be
To send us poor lads to Australia

I fell in with a damsel
She was handsome and gay
I neglected me work
More and more, every day
And to keep her like a lady
I went on the highway
And for that I was sent to Australia

Now the judges, they stand
With their whips in their hands
They drive us like horses
To plough up the land
You should see us poor young fellows
Working in that jail yard
How hard is our fate in Australia

Australia, Australia
I would ne'er see no more
Worn out with fever
Cast down to Death's door
But should I live to see
Say, seven years more
I would then sat adieu to Australia

c) Australia
Cyril Poacher, Plenty of Thyme, Musica Traditions MT CD 303; song recorded in 1974; also on Farewell, my own dear native land, Songs of exile and emigtarion, The Voice of the People, Topic TSCD 654

Now come all you young fellows wheresomever you be
If you listen I'll tell you a story

When I was a young man of about seventeen
I ought to been serving Victoria our Queen
But those hardhearted judges, oh, how cruel they've been
To send us young lads to Australia

I fell in love with a damsel, she was handsome and gay
I neglected my work more and more every day
And to keep her like a lady, I went on the highway
And for that I got sent to Australia

You should see how they stand with their whips in their hand
They drove us like horses to plough up the land
You should see us poor young fellows, we worked in that jailyard
How sad was our fight in Australia

Australia, Australia, I shall never see no more
I'm worn out with fever, cast down at death's door
But if ever I should live to see seven years more
I will then bid adieu to Australia

d) Australia
Cyril Poacher, Plenty of Thyme, Musica Traditions MT CD 303 – 3 verses only; song recorded in 1974

Come all you young fellows wheresomever you be
If you listen I'll tell you a story
When I was a young man of about seventeen
I ought to been serving Victoria our Queen
But those hardhearted judges, oh, how cruel they've been
To send us young lads to Australia

You should see how they stand with their whips in their hand
They drove us like horses to plough up their land
You should see us poor fellows, we worked in that jailyard
How sad was our fight in Australia

Australia, Australia, I shall never see no more
I'm worn out with fever, cast down at death's door
But if ever I should live to see seven years more
I will then bid adieu to Australia


Van Diemen's Land (I)

a) Henry the Poacher
Harry Cox, What Will Become of England? – The Alan Lomax Collection, Portraits, Rounder 11661-1839-2; song recorded in 1953

So come all you wild and wicked youths, wheresomever you may be
I pray now pay attention and listen unto me
The fate of our poor transports as you shall understand
The hardships they do undergo upon Van Diemen's Land

My parents reared me tenderly, good learning give to me
Till I by bad companions beguiled my home from me
I was brought up at Worcestershire, near to the town did dwell
My name is Henry Herbert, and many knows me well

Me and three more went out one night to Squire Daniel's park
To get some game was our intent, as the night came proving dark
And to our sad misfortune, they took us there by speed
And sent us off to Warwick Gaol, which made our hearts to bleed

'Twas at the March assizes, at the bar we did appear
Like Job we stood with patience to hear our sentence there
And being some old offenders, it made our case go hard
Our sentence were for fourteen year, and we were sent on board

The ship that bore us from the land, The Speedwell was her name
And full four months and upwards, we ploughed the raging main
No land, nor harbour could we see, and believe it is no lie
For around us one black water, and above us one blue sky

I oft-times looked behind me towards my native shore
And the cottage of contentment that I shall see no more
Likewise my aged father, who tore his hoary hair
Also my tender mother, whose arms did once me bear

'Twas on the fourth of July, the day we made the land
At four o'clock we went on shore, all chain-ed hand-in-hand
And to see our fellow sufferers, as I feel I can't tell how
Some chained unto a harrow and some unto a plough

So we were marched into the town, without no more delay
And there a gentleman took me, bookkeeper for to be
I took my occupation, my master likes me well
My joys are out of measure, I am sure no one can tell

He kept a female servant — Rosanna was her name
For fourteen year a convict, from Worcestershire she came
And we oft-times tell our love tales, when we were far at home
And now we are rattling of our chains, in foreign lands to roam


b) Van Diemen's Land
Ewan MacColl, in Chorus from the Gallows, Topic TSCD502, recorded 1959, and in the anthology The Real MacColl, Topic TSCD463

Now come all you wild and wicked youths, wheresoever you may be
I pray now pay attention and listen unto me
The fateful awful transports as you shall understand
The hardships they do undergo upon Van Diemen's Land

My parents reared me tenderly, good learning they gave to me
'Til all my bad companions beguiled my home from me
I was brought up in Worcestershire, near to the town did dwell
My name is Henry Abbott, and many knows me well

Me and three more went out one night to Squire Daniel's farm
To get some game was our intent as the night come falling down
But to our sad misfortune, they took us there with speed
They sent us off to Warwick gaol, which made our hearts to bleed

It was at the March assises, at the bar we did appear
Like Job we stood with patience to hear our sentence there
And being some old offenders, it made our case go hard
Our sentence were for fourteen years, and we were sent on board

The ship that bore us from the land, the Speedwell was her name
And full four months and a half we ploughed across the raging main
No land or harbour could we see, and believe it is no lie
For around us one black water and above us one blue sky

I ofttimes look behind me towards my native shore
And that cottage of contentment that I shall see no more
Likewise my aged father, who tore his hoary hair
Also my tender mother whose arms once did me bear

It was on the fourth of July, the day we made the land
At four o'clock we went on shore, all chained hand in hand
And to see our fellow sufferers, I feel I can't tell how
Some chained unto a harrow, and some unto a plow

So we were marched into the town without no more delay
And there a gentleman took me, a book-keeper for to be
I took my occupation, my master likes me well
My joys are out of measure, I'm sure no tongue can tell

He kept a female servant, Rosanna was her name
For fourteen years a convict, from Worcestershire she came
We oft times tell our love tales there where we are so far from home
For now we're rattling of our chains, in foreign lands to roam


Van Diemen's Land (II)

a) Van Diemen's Land
Enoch Kent, on Root & Branch 1 / A New World, EFDSS, song recorded in 1966, first released on Topic

Come a' you gallant poaching boys who ramble void of care
And when you go on a moonlit night wi' your dog, your gun, your snare
The harmless hare and the pheasant you'll have at your command
Never thinking on your last career upon Van Diemen's Land

There was Jocky Brown frae Glesca, Willie Guthrie and Young Monroe
They were three gallant poaching boys, the country well did know
The keeper caught them hunting a' wi' their dogs in hand
They were fourteen years transported out to Van Dieman's land

There cam' a lass frae sweet Dundee, Bessie Logan was her name
And she was given sentence for playin' at the game
But the captain he caught her fancy and he married her oot o' hand
And she gave us all good usage going to Van Dieman's land

The very day we landed upon that fatal shore
The fairmers gathered round us, some forty score and more
The fairmers gathered round us a' wi' their guns in hand
Then they yok'd us tae a wooden plough, tae plough Van Dieman's land

I lay on my bed the other nicht and I had a pleasant dream
I was walking wi' my sweetheart doon by a purling stream
We wandered through all Scotland, she was there at my richt hand
I awoke quite broken-hearted lyin' on Van Diemen's Land

Although the poor o' Scotland dae labour and dae toil
They're robbed o' every pleasure and produce of the soil
Your proud imperious landlords, you'll obey their sole command
Or they'll send you on an English hulk, or to Van Dieman's land


b) Van Diemen's Land
Cara Dillon, on Root & Branch 1 / A New World, EFDSS, song recorded in 1999, from a version by Tim Lyons

Come all you gallant poachers who ramble void of care
Who wander out on a moonlit night with your dog, your gun and snare
The hare and lofty pheasant you have at your command
Not thinking of your long career spend on Van Dieman's land

Poor Thomas Brown from Nenagh town, John Murphy and Poor Joe
Where three determined poachers, the country well does know
By the keepers of the land, one night, at last they were trepanned
And for fourteen years transported unto Van Dieman's Land

The first day that we landed upon that fatal shore
The planters gathered around us, they might be twenty score
They ranked us off like horses and sold us out of hand
They yoked us to a plough, brave boys, to plough Van Dieman's Land

Often when I slumber, I have a pleasant dream
I 'm lying on the cold green grass down by your purling stream
Oh, wondering through the maid of fair with my sweetheart by the hand
Then I awaken broken-hearted upon Van Dieman's Land

Fourteen years is a long long time, that is our fatal doom
For nothing more the poaching got no all that so we done
You give up dog, gun and snare and the poaching, every man
If you only knew the hardship upon Van Dieman's Land

Subject: Lyr Add: ROLL DOWN (Peter Bellamy)
From: Roberto
Date: 30 May 06 - 03:32 AM

ROLL DOWN
(by Peter Bellamy)

Roll Down
Cyril Tawney, on The Transports, A Ballad Opera by Peter Bellamy, Topic TSCD459, first released in 1977

Sweet ladies of Plymouth we're saying goodbye
Ro - o - o - oll down
We'll rock you and roll you again by and by
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

And we will Ro - o - o - oll down
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

Now the anchor's aweigh and the sails are unfurled
Ro - o - o - oll down
We're bound for to take her half way round the world
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

In the wide Bay of Biscay the seas will run high
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor sickly Transports they'll wish they could die
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

When the wild coast of Africa it do appear
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor nervous Transports they'll tremble with fear
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

When the Cape of Good Hope it is rounded at last
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor lonesome Transports they'll long for the past
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

When the great southern whales on our quarter do spout
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor simple transports, they'll goggle and shout
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

And when we arrive off Australia's strand
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor weary Transports they'll long for the land
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

And when we set sail for old Eng - gl - land's shore,
Ro - o - o - oll down
The poor stranded Transports we'll see him no more
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

Then sweet ladies of Plymouth we'll pay all your rent
Ro - o - o - oll down
And go roving no more 'til our money's all spent
Walk around m' brave boys and roll down

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 30 May 06 - 04:24 AM

Jim Dixon (above) makes the case for a search of The Bodleian Library for broadsheets about 'Transportation'. I should add a large caveat to that suggestion.
Please remember that the "Transportation Act 1718" allowed for the removal of some of our criminal classes to America. This was interrupted by some effort by the colonials in 1776. When transportation re-commenced in 1787 it was to Australia. So, depending on the date of the ballad, if a destination is not named, care should be taken with any presumption.

CHEERS
Nigel
Transportation

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 May 06 - 05:45 AM

You could try digging around in The National Library of Australia:

The digitised printed music collection comprises Australian sheet music and some published albums held by the National Library published before 1930. Music is defined as Australian if it involved an Australian composer, librettist, arranger, subject or place of publication. There are 9,300 pieces of printed music digitised.

Subject: Lyr Add: MARY PARKER'S LAMENT
From: GUEST,AMC
Date: 30 May 06 - 11:41 PM

MARY PARKER'S LAMENT
(Judy Small)

There's a little more grey in my hair nowadays
As I sit here watching my grandchildren play,
And I wonder if they have the faintest idea
Of the life that their grandmother knew.

CHORUS: It's oh and alas for you, Mary my girl,
To be torn from the life you knew half round the world
And never again to see home.

It was back in the eighties, a younger girl then,
With my auburn hair flashing, I'd walk with my man,
And he'd tell me the places he would take me to see,
If only that he had the means.

But then I was with child and I saw him no more.
At the pain of our parting, I thought I should die;
And I stole from my master some blankets and some cloth
Just to keep me and baby alive.

But 'twas all for a'nought, for the baby he died.
It felt like a part of me perished inside;
And for stealing I was sent as a transport to sea,
Never knowing for where I was bound.

Seven long years was the sentence I bore.
It felt like a lifetime as I came ashore;
And I wept when I saw the life waiting for me
As a chattel, a whore and a slave.

So I married a convict, the safer to be
From the soldiers and the freed men who chased after me;
And for seven long years we did work for our keep,
Ever dreaming of England and home.

And the children I bore were the joy of my days.
I longed for my mother to see them at play;
And our hands grew rough from the scrubbing and the dirt;
And the sun turned our fair skins to brown.

Then on ticket of leave we were granted some land.
We worked it and ploughed it by sweat of our hands,
And forgot about England except in our dreams.
We called New South Wales our true home.

And now here I sit watching my grandchildren play,
And looking back over the length of my days,
And it's clear in my mind is the Plymouth I knew,
And I weep for my mother again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: alison
Date: 31 May 06 - 03:46 AM

Back home in Derry

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Flash Company
Date: 31 May 06 - 05:07 AM

We keep coming back to 'Transports'

Farewell to our loved ones and our fond relations,
Farewell to the land we love well,
There is never an ending to our tribulations,
We are damned like the sinners in hell.

Here's adieu,
Here's adieu to the green fields of England, we are parting from you!

Used to sing it, but can't remember all the words now. Age is a problem!

FC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: r.padgett
Date: 31 May 06 - 11:49 AM

Two Poms travel over on assisted passage to Australia cost £10 each 1955

When they get there the Immigration officials ask them all questions:

* age 25 and 27
* sex male female
* country of origin England
* town Doncaster
* money? £100 and £160
* occupation miner, miner's wife
* religion?
* Church of England
* convictions??

-
-
wait for it!
-
-
* Oh WE DIDNT KNOW IT WAS STILL COMPULSORY!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Big Tim
Date: 31 May 06 - 01:49 PM

'Transportation', rather than 'deportation', is the word generally used by historians.                        

The final transportation ship, the 'Hougoumont', sailed in 1867 and the practice was formally abolished in 1868. On board the 'Hougoument' were about 70 Irish Fenians. Numerous songs have been written about them, and by them. 'Johnny Golden' is an example.

A good account of the Fenian experience can be found in a book published by Wolfhound Press, Dublin, in 2001:

'Fenian Diary: Denis B. Cashman on board the Hougoument, with additional poems by Cashman, John Boyle O'Reilly, John Flood, and others'. Edited by Dr. C.W. Sullivan III. Very atmospheric.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Big Tim
Date: 31 May 06 - 02:30 PM

I forgot about 'The Boys of Mullaghbawn', IMO the greatest of all the transportation songs, dating from about 1791, recorded by Christy Moore.

Subject: Lyr Add: AUSTRALIA (from Cyril Poacher)
From: Fidjit
Date: 31 May 06 - 03:14 PM

There's actually a song called, "Australia".
(Which Bob Fox changed to "Virginia")
Recorded by Cyril Poacher by Tony Engle, Blaxhall Suffolk, 1974.

On Topic records somewhere.

I have it on EFDSS' "Roots 2" CD.

AUSTRALIA

Now come all you young fellows, where'er you may be
Come listen a while and I'll tell you
For it's many a young man, myself aye it seems
More fitter to serve than to die on the streets
But those hard hearted judges, how cruel they have been
For they've sent us poor lads to Australia
For they've sent us poor lads to Australia

Now when I was in service in fair London town
I worked long and hard for my master
Till those pretty young girls, they led me astray
And my work I neglected, for to sport and to play
And for to maintain it, robbed on the highway
And for that I was sent to Australia
And for that I was sent to Australia

Now when we got to Australia, that cold shameful place
Which now I recall in my story
Our Captain he stood with a whip and a cane
And he bargained for us poor souls out of hand
Like horses they yoked us, to plough the salt main
And they sold us for slaves in Australia
And they sold us for slaves in Australia

When I robbed on the highway, I lived at my ease
I laid down my head on soft feathers
With a glass in my hand and a lass on my knee
No robber in England lived better than me
Now my bed's the cold ground, far across the salt sea
And how hard is my fate in Australia
And how hard is my fate in Australia

Oh England! Oh England, I fear I'll not see you more
If I do it's ten thousand to twenty
For my fingers they're rotting, and my back it is sore
And I wander around right at death's door
But if I could live for to see seven years more
Well I'd soon bid farewell to Australia
Well I'd soon bid farewell to Australia.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CONVICT'S CHILD
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 08:41 PM

Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads has about 15 copies of this one. I don't know the tune. It doesn't mention Australia, but the convict is obviously being transported somewhere.

THE CONVICT'S CHILD

The convict ship lay near the beach.
The morn was drear and dark,
And many a wretched felon stood
Waiting to embark.
One felon stood among the rest
Whose eye was fierce and wild.
He held an infant in his arms.
'Twas, alas! his only child.

His auburn hair fell careless o'er
A brow of spotless white.
His little eyes beamed playfully
With innocent delight.
He little knew his father's heart
Was breaking while he smiled,
Or that he took a last farewell
Of him, his only child.

They tore the infant from his arms
And dragged him from the shore.
He wildly gazed around the beach
But saw his child no more.
The vessel sailed. The convict fell
In dying anguish wild.
" 'Tis done. The fatal struggle's o'er.
Alas! my only child."

The widowed mother sobbed alone [or "aloud"].
Her tears might flow in vain.
That bitter morn her husband fell
She ne'er could see again.
She pressed her infant to her heart.
Again she saw him smile.
"I'll live for that dear boy," she said.
"Alas! my only child."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Snuffy
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 09:06 PM

Fidjit,

The song was originally called Virginia, but we couldn't send convicts there after that minor unpleasantness with Mr Washington, so we sent them to the Antipodes instead.

And the song changed to reflect the changed geopolitical realities of the day. Or something.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Songs about deportation to Australia.
From: Scoville
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 11:32 PM

All I've got is the U2 recording of "Van Diemen's Land".